Fri 19 August 2022:
In statements to Bloomberg News on Thursday, Indonesian President Joko Widodo invited the manufacturer of electric vehicles (EVs), Tesla, to produce both its automobiles and batteries there, Reuters reported.
The president, known as Jokowi, stated in an interview that Indonesia wants to create a “huge ecosystem of electric cars” as opposed to only using its natural resources to produce batteries.
He also said Indonesia was considering imposing a tax on nickel exports this year to boost revenue. Officials have previously said this could come as soon as the third quarter of the year.
INDONESIAN PRESIDENT JOKO WIDODO MEETS TESLA’S MUSK, VISITS SPACE X
In talks earlier this year with Tesla’s founder Elon Musk, the president and senior government officials claimed to have urged him to take into consideration the Southeast Asian nation’s potential as a centre for the production of cars in addition to batteries.
Tesla representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Earlier this month, Luhut Pandjaitan, a senior Indonesian minister in charge of negotiations with Tesla, told the media that the US company had reached agreements worth about $5 billion to purchase nickel products from nickel-processing businesses based in Morowali, Indonesia, on the island of Sulawesi. The lithium batteries made by Tesla will use the nickel materials.
Jokowi invited Musk to visit Indonesia in November, when the country will host a leaders summit for the Group of 20 leading economies, during its May summit.
Toyota Motor Corp., Mitsubishi Motors Corp., and Hyundai Motor Group of South Korea are among the companies that have invested or have announced plans to invest in EV manufacturing in Indonesia.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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